I second that notion. I don’t really self identify as Christian anymore but back when I was selling my old vinyl album collection Larry was one of about a dozen artists I wouldn’t part with.
Larry may or may not have been the grand father of Christian Rock but I’m pretty sure he was the first outspoken and unapologetic Christian artist recording rock and roll on a major label. Now we have an entire “contemporary Christian music” industry but when Larry started out, the main stream American Christian establishment wanted nothing to do with rock and roll and I’m pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Despite that he cranked out a few truly amazing albums. A few samples:
All pretty much “classic rock” which may or may not be your thing, his most creative decade was the 1970s. His career is a little hard to understand, it seems like even as Christian rock was expanding in acceptance he wasn’t. In the 80’s he formed his own record label named Phydeaux, a small joke on his part saying that if “Christian music was going to the dogs he wanted to be on the cutting edge.” There have been some controversy about his legacy (he passed away a few years ago) even a documentary which was rather critical of him. He may not have been all that easy to work with and perhaps there may have been some sins of the flesh involved, Larry had his flaws. But the man was a hell of a musician who’s work I enjoy to this day and to some extent he deserves credit for establishing the commercial viability of Christian rock. And to answer the OP, yeah the man was deep.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it deep, but Switchfoot’sSelling the News (YouTube w/lyrics) is a nice criticism of mainstream news, My guess is mainly Fox News.
I dig it.
Another nod for Relient K’s later stuff. Although, I really dug Mmm Hmm. They’ve really found their sound, and are writing some really good stuff.
Another recent one by the Newsboys,Your Live is Better than Life (YouTube w/Lyrics). I’m not necessarily a fan, but my wife is. However, I found this refreshingly honest for a very evangelic band, really admitting “I dunno”, meaning it could all be dogma, and probably is (christian moral: all that matters is their love in God), but at least they brought up some questions. Catchy too.
I don’t listen to Christian music, but I worked with a woman that did. The band Third Day is pretty damn good. (I’ve even gone to see them in concert twice.)
At one of the concerts, they were opened by Robert Randolph and Family http://www.robertrandolph.net/ Blues/Gospel—AWESOME!!!
If you married a religioner - someone who would rather believe in fantasy instead of acknowledging reality - then deal with the irrational on your own.
Wovenhand are maybe not really Christian as much as suffused with religion and the singer’s (David Eugene Edwards, formerly of 16 Horsepower) personal faith, and it’s probably not really ‘rock’ by most takes, and of course, whether it’s deep or not is a bit of a matter of one’s personal take on it, but I really love their music for its hypnotic, southern-gothic influenced, ecstatic in the sense of falling-down-and-speaking-in-tongues character… Some of my favorites are To Make A Ring and The Threshingfloor.
I too am going to be looking for Pedro the Lion due to the link.
::::hijack::::: . For some reason, my mind is always wanting to link bands in pairs, and can do so when they sound similar enough (even if they are not emulating or copying each other on purpose). So for instance, I always think of Weezer when I think of All American Rejects and vice versa; Fall Out Boy and Riddlin Kids; When Buckcherry came out they naturally filled a place next to AC/DC. Well, my mind didn’t have anything to associate with Jimmy Eat World until I saw this link. Which makes sense as they both grew up in Christian Rock circles.
Not sure if it’s the kind of song that gets played on Christian rock stations, but The Rainmakers’ “The Wages Of Sin” gets pretty deep.
I was praying last night when an angel broke the line
She said “I’m gonna have to put you on hold for a time”
I said “Hold like Hell, let me talk to the Boss”
She said “Sorry sinner, it’s the Boss’s day off”
And I realized then that the wages of sin
Was two bucks an hour and working weekends
This. And they’re not even all that secret-- at the core, they’ve been writing/singing about the same topics as when they started out, only revisiting them from different angles and perspectives as the band has grown and matured. It’s why each new album of theirs, for me, is like sitting down to continue a years-long conversation with an old friend you haven’t seen for a while, who has been shaped in interesting ways by their intervening experiences, but is the same core personality you remember and love.
I’ve always thought their songs were “deep” in that they focus on what it means to have and struggle with faith in the face of a very imperfect, dirty and unjust world, not just in a sunshine-and-rainbows sense. “Wake Up Dead Man”, “If God Will Send His Angels”, “Please”, “The Wanderer”, “White as Snow” …even “With Or Without You” are all great for this.
And “Grace”, especially, is (IMO) one of the single best expressions of the concept of grace that exists in musical form or otherwise.
Without knowing what kind of music appeals to you, I suppose it makes sense to start at the beginning with It’s Hard to Find a Friend. I honestly like all of his albums. It’s hard to qualify one as “soft” or more “rock,” since they all contain both slow and high energy songs. I’d say I’m a big fan of the EP Only Reason I Feel Secure (which now that I think about it, is definitely a slower CD.) To get an idea what he currently sounds like you could check out his most recent release from this year - Strange Negotiations.
Also, here’s an interviewof him explaining his split with the evangelical community.
Thanks for all the replies everyone! I had no idea there was so much tolerable christian music out there. I’m going to compile a bunch of these suggestions and go through them with my wife. Hopefully I’ll be able to report back at some point. Thanks again to everyone who’s responded with suggestions, links and lyrics.
I know this reply is a couple years late but I stumbled upon this thread on google. If you are still looking/even read this reply you can try out the o.c. supertones, relient k, five iron frenzy, and there is always skillet. Depending on what album you listen to those first two may be more or less “rock”, not sure what kind of rock you are looking for exactly. And relient k’s earlier albums were probably geared more towards high school students, but they matured over the years.
I know there are a lot of metal Christian bands out there, but I don’t know how “deep” they get because I can’t really understand what they say haha.
If you are just looking for something that is deep and you don’t mind the rap/hiphop genre some of their artists are very deep and thought provoking. lecrae and trip lee come to mind.
Regardless of what genres you listen to I would definitely recommend “I’m Guilty” by KJ 52 for a good soul wrenching